THE SIDELINES : 2nd Cage Coach Posts 800 Wins

Winston-Salem State Coach Clarence (Bighouse) Gaines became the second coach in college basketball history to reach 800 victories when his club beat Livingstone 79-70 Wednesday night.

Gaines in reaching that plateau in his 1,000th game, moved within 75 victories of Adolph Rupp, who coached for 41 seasons at Kentucky before retiring in 1972.

Will Gaines hang around long enough to catch Rupp?

“Right now, I’m healthy,” Gaines, 66, told a crowd of reporters on Livingstone’s home court. “You know how us old folks are. Tomorrow, we might wake up with rheumatism or any other type of ailment.”

If Gaines had a health problem this season, it probably was heartache from last season. He thought he would reach 800 then, but the Rams struggled in with a 6-18 mark.